


We Have Been This Way Forever

by taeyang91



Category: Block B
Genre: Angst, Highschool AU, M/M, and no one knows why, and they dont really know eithr, angst angst angst, but it doesnt stop them from beating the shit out of eachother, get ready folks, i dont even know, more characters will come in later, they're like enemies who fight all the time, this is gonna be a super slow build also
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-09-15 00:10:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9211262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taeyang91/pseuds/taeyang91
Summary: “I just mean, sure you don’t like him, whatever, he’s kind of an ass, but what makes you want to try to kill him every time you see him?”highschool enemies au





	1. in which jiho and yukwon are angsty and violent

No one even remembers how it started anymore. At the beginning people would gather around, chanting and placing bets, it was the only thing that brought people from all over the school together. “Did you hear Jiho and Yukwon are fighting again on the 3rd floor?” whispered between strangers. It was ugly fighting, knuckles against teeth, fingers in hair, but it was the most exciting thing most of the other students had ever seen.  
A few weeks later the excitement died down, but the crowds never did. People would stand in silence, leaning against walls, peeking through doorways, refusing to look away. Some said it became scary after that time an ambulance had to be called for Yukwon after Jiho threw him across a hallway and he hit his head on the water fountain and blacked out for 14 minutes.  
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” Jiho spat, this fight had just started and they were still stable enough to speak, he swung out clumsily and caught Yukwon in the chin with a hard punch,  
“Fuck you,” Yukwon sneered, lunging toward the taller man, shoving him onto the floor, and kicking him hard in the side, Jiho grabbed his leg and pulled him down, causing him to hit the ground with a loud bang, some people shifted out of the way. They fought like this until someone forced them apart, not even stopping when people were begging them to for their own safety. They’d been threatened with explosion a number of times, but the school never followed through, they’d even had the cops called on them once, who just laughed and said some bullshit about “boys being boys”.  
\--  
Yukwon was sitting on the cold wooden bench of the school bleachers, looking at his hands and groaned to himself, “I think I broke my thumb,” He whined, quietly,  
“If you’re looking for sympathy, you won’t find it, dude,” Minhyuk responded. He and Jaehyo were stood a few feet away from the other boy, sharing a cigarette,  
“I know, I just,” Yukwon trailed off, “Ow,” He whispered as he pressed down on a bruise forming on his cheek bone,  
“I have a solution for you, Kwonie,” Jaehyo spoke up, using his pet name for the other boy in the most obnoxious way, “Stop this weird thing you have going on with this Woo kid,”  
“His name is Woo?” Yukwon asked, raising an eyebrow, and leaning against the wood paneling at the back of the bleachers,  
“He doesn’t even know the family name of the guy he’s been pummeling for the last 2 months,” Jaehyo turned to Minhyuk incredulously. Yukwon didn’t like knowing his full name, it felt weirdly humanizing, he imagined Jiho coming home from a day of school with a black eye and some motherly Woo woman crying and pressing ice against it, while his younger stupid Woo siblings gathered around him asking if he was okay. Yukwon spat out a glob of blood from the back of his throat,  
“Who cares?” He shrugged, reaching for the cigarette, “Why would I need to know that?”  
Minhyuk passed it to him and sighed, “Whats your problem with him anyways?”  
“He’s an asshole and he has a punchable face,” Yukwon grumbled, standing up gingerly to leave the school field, groaning slightly when he put weight on his ankle, “Fuck you guys, also,” He deadpanned, glaring at them and hobbling away toward the parking lot,  
“So much for a ride home,” Jaehyo muttered, after so many years of friendship the two of them were used to Yukwons moodiness, but it still hurt.  
\--  
“Whats your problem with with him?”  
Jiho looked up confused at the sudden presence, he was standing in the second floor boys bathroom washing the blood off his face, and had thought he was completely alone until he looked and saw a boy from his Psych class, standing at the other end of the bathroom looking strangely smug.  
“What?” Jiho asked, trying to put as much venom as he could into the single word, trying to convey how little he wanted to talk to the boy,  
“Why do you fight like that with Yukwon?” The boy repeated, taking a few steps forward and shoving his glasses higher on his nose, he genuinely seemed to believe Jiho had misunderstood the question,  
“Who’re you?” Jiho responded, raising his chin slightly, and pretending that movement didn’t send an aching pain down his entire neck, “And why do you think that's your business?” He took a battle stance without thinking about it, as he was used to with Yukwon, slightly bent knees, arms away from body, thumbs pressed against his pointer finger.  
“Ah,” The boy stuck out a hand toward Jiho, but was just far enough away from him that they couldn’t have shook hands if Jiho had wanted to, “Lee Taeil, I’m in your second period..” He trailed off when Jiho turned away from him and continued to dab at the small stream of blood coming out of his nose, “I just mean, sure you don’t like him, whatever, he’s kind of an ass, but what makes you want to try to kill him every time you see him?” He nervously shifted papers in the stack of books he was holding,  
Jiho looked Taeil up and down slowly, and turned to leave the bathroom, he walked a bit too close to the other boy who stepped back quickly. It made Jiho feel powerful. He considered punching the wall as he left, for dramatic effect, but decided against it as his knuckles had been through enough today already.  
\--  
“This. Is. Bullshit,” Yukwon moaned for the third time in the last 20 minutes,  
“Heard you the first time, shitstain,” Jiho muttered under his breath, the two of them were sitting in those chairs with the desk attached, writing apology letters to each other under close supervision of the school secretary, who sat in the opposite room. This was both of their 4th in school suspension this school year. Yukwon considered lunging at Jiho but didn’t want another 4 days added on if he was caught.  
“I fucking hate you,” Yukwon whispered, glaring daggers into Jiho who gave a look of mock surprise,  
“Who me?” He drawled in english, “Why ever would you hate me?”  
“You’re the worst fucking person I’ve ever met, I hope you die,” Yukwon was never good at insults, but Jihos lack of reaction drove him crazy, “And you’re ugly,”  
“I’m ugly? Really? God, Kwonie, congratulations on turning 10! Double digits are a big deal!” Jiho grinned, Yukwon started to raise a fist and then shook his head and put his head down close to the paper. Jiho, however, knew exactly how to piss Yukwon off using only words.  
“I’m watching you, boys!” The secretary called, in an annoying sing song voice, they knew she was barely paying attention as a new episode of her favorite drama had come out last night, they both had no doubt she was streaming it on her laptop right now. Which meant they could do anything they wanted, as long as they weren’t too loud.  
“At least I’m not a friendless little mamas boy who cries when he doesn’t get his way,” Yukwon whispered, sitting up straight and rolling his eyes, “You’re a garbage human,”  
Jiho frowned and muttered a couple curses under his breath, but didn’t respond, instead he continued writing the apology letter.  
“What? Did I hit a bone? Little baby too afraid to fight back,” Yukwon mocked, throwing pieces of eraser across the room, “Little baby Woo Jiho,”  
Jiho death glared him and slowly stood up, “Fuck off,” He muttered through gritted teeth.  
“Little baby Woo Jiho afraid of getting in fights, wahh,” Yukwon laughed, knowing he’d finally found a weak spot, “Does your mother cry when you come home all bloody and bruised? Her poor little Jiho,”  
Jiho lunged across the room and punched Yukwon as hard as he possibly could, shoving the other boy onto the floor and climbing on top, punching him repeatedly, “Shut.” He said each word in between a punch, “The. Fuck. Up.” He paused for a moment, breathing heavily, the secretary was screaming for the principal. Jiho looked down at Yukwon, who through all the bruises and blood, was still smirking up at him,  
“Did I hurt your feelings?” Yukwon whispered, looking genuinely pained with each word.

\--  
Jiho hasn’t seen Yukwon since the incident last week. He wonders briefly if he’s dead. He could only be so lucky. He’s sitting against a tree just on the border of school grounds. He’s been suspended for 2 weeks, which is a minor punishment, considering. He knows Yukwon got nothing but sympathy from the facility, and that drives him crazy. Crazy enough to sit just far enough from the school to not get in trouble, waiting for that scumbag to show his face. Jiho slumps down on the grass and groaned quietly. He got the least of the damage, but its enough to stop him from walking more than a couple dozen feet at a time. He can’t even imagine what shape Yukwons in. He grins.  
“Hi!” A too cheerful voice exclaims next to him. Jiho looks up slowly, putting on his best disgusting face, and sees that weird kid from the bathroom standing in front of him, smiling sweetly.  
“What do you want?” Jiho asked, trying to sound aggressive, but just coming off as alarmed,  
“See, Jihoon, I told you he’s nice!” Taeil turned to a boy standing behind him, who Jiho hadn’t noticed before hand, “He acts tough as a defense mechanism, but in reality, he’s just a sweetheart who wants to be loved!”  
Jiho was taken aback, “Excuse me?” No one had ever spoken to him like this before, and he didn’t entirely know how to react to something that wasn’t a threat or a plea for mercy.  
“Yeah, I guess so,” Jihoon responded, the two of them moved to sit down next to Jiho.  
“I think you’re interesting, Woo Jiho,” Taeil said, smiling a little too sweetly, “I think you’re interesting and I want to be your friend. Jihoon here does too, he just doesn’t want to say so. Scared of you, or something,”  
Jiho made a face, and looked the shorter boy up and down, “Um.” He furrowed his eyebrows, “I’m good, thanks?”  
“I could help you,” Taeil replied quickly, “I’m studying psychology and I understand people better than they understand themselves, I know exactly how you can get at Yukwon, I know his exact weaknesses. I could tell you, if you want.”  
“And you’d get…” Jiho prompted, knowing that no one did anything for free,  
Taeil shrugged, “I just want to help,”  
\--  
“Yukwon!” Minhyuk called, knocking on his door, “Dude, are you in there?”  
“Fuck off,” Yukwon growled. He was laying on his bed in the only way that didn’t shoot stabbing pains up and down his body and had the lights off. He wasn’t in the mood to be mocked for getting beaten the shit out of by Jiho, especially since the other boy left unscathed.  
“Okay, I’m coming in,” Minhyuk pushed the door open, “Jesus fuck what did he do to you?” He asked looking at his friend with shock,  
“Whatever,” Yukwon responded.  
“What did you do?” Minhyuk asked solemnly, sitting on the edge of Yukwons bed, prompting a moan of pain from the other boy.  
“What did I do?! What the fuck did he do! The guys fucking crazy, he just wailed on me for no fucking reason, I didn’t even fight back,” Yukwon exploded, starting to sit up.  
“You must’ve done something, idiot,” Minhyuk replied, shrugging, “You do usually start these things,”  
“As fucking if.” Yukwon spat, “Get out of my fucking house, don’t come here to fucking blame me for getting the shit beaten out of me,”  
“Sorry,” Minhyuk smiled crookedly, “I just wanted to make sure you’re alive,”  
“Who let you in anyways? I told my parents to not let anyone inside,”  
“No ones home, man, door was open,” Minhyuk explained, “I figured you were well enough to be walking around or something, but..” he trailed off,  
“Assholes,” Yukwon grumbled, looking away from Minhyuk to stare out the window.  
“I do gotta go, my shift starts in an hour, but I’m glad you’re alive, or whatever.” Minhyuk stood up slowly, looking apologetic “Jaehyo says to get well soon,” he started to leave when Yukwon stopped him,  
“Do you think you could,” He paused, “I don’t know. Stay here for a bit longer?” He refused to make eye contact with his friend, biting his lip lightly and looking out the window,  
“You want me to stay?” Minhyuk questioned, looking genuinely confused,  
“Yeah, I mean, whatever, I just, can’t like… Do anything, really, and its kinda super boring, and..” He didn’t finish his sentence.  
“I knew you were a tsundere, I can’t wait to tell Jaehyo this. He’ll be delighted knowing you practically begged me to stay with you,” Minhyuk laughed heartily, pulling out his cell phone and starting to type,  
“Tsun…. Fuck, nevermind, leave your fatally injured best friend to die in this shitty bed home alone, who fucking cares,” Yukwon responded, all softness gone from his voice, “I hate you and I hate Jaehyo,”  
“I was kidding, you asshole,” Minhyuk grinned, sitting back down on his friends bed, “I’ll call in sick right now,”  
“...Thanks,” Yukwon muttered, looking directly at Minhyuk for the first time that day.  
“No problem, man,” Minhyuk smiled.  
\--  
The next week Yukwon was back at school. He skipped first period at Jaehyos request (“Its on the same floor as.. You-know-who and I’m serious, you gotta be careful for a couple more weeks,”) and instead sat by himself out on the bleachers, smoking and listening to music. He wasn’t afraid of Jiho, he was just… He didn’t know what he was. He flicked his cigarette butt down the stairs, and stood up to leave, only to bump face to face with Woo Jiho himself.  
“Ow,” Yukwon muttered, looking up awkwardly, “Sorry, man, I--” He cut himself off when he noticed it was Jiho. The taller boy said nothing, and pushed past him, didn’t miss a step as he hopped down the bleacher rows one by one. Yukwon watched him leave, and then on impluse, “Hey, whats your fucking problem, man?”  
Jiho froze, back to the other boy, “Whats my problem.” He repeated, tsking quietly. He turned and looked at Yukwon, face completely blank and calm, “What is my problem?” He repeated,  
Yukwon didn’t know what changed, but suddenly he didn’t feel so confident, “Thats what I said.” He said, pushing past the quiver in his voice,  
“Whats my fucking problem,” Jiho looked around, like this was the first time he’d seen any of this, and then his gaze froze on Yukwon. He was quiet for a moment, and Yukwon could hear his heart pumping. Jiho turned back away and continued his way, ignoring Yukwon completely as he taunted and mocked him, just trying to get a reaction. Jiho stopped once he’d reached the field, almost out of earshot, “Never come near me again,” He shrugged and walked off, leaving Yukwon alone.


	2. in which jiho doesn't know why yukwon affects him like this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i changed the fic name and like rewrote bits of chapter 1 a couple different times, im sorry im indecisive but you gotta deal with it

Yukwon couldn’t stay away from Jiho long, as they soon found themselves test subjects for the schools newest genius idea to help their students grow and learn from their mistakes; conflict resolution. The principal was so excited to tell them about it and seemed genuinely dejected when they didn’t match his enthusiasm, he’d explained all smiles and sunshine that this would be a miracle cure and in no time at all they’d be best friends forever. It was bullshit. But now they sat, in two identical chairs, in front of a lady in a light grey pantsuit with a useless PHD having to talk about their feelings.   
“I feel that Yukwon has a tendency to refuse to ever see the wrong in anything he does, and tends to project his feelings onto other people” Jiho said sweetly, and this is exactly why Yukwon hates him, he talks like he thinks he’s better than anyone in the whole world, and every teacher ever falls for it,   
“And I feel that Jiho is a stupid piece of shit that doesn’t know anything about anything, and I feel that he deserves every punch I’ve ever given him” Yukwon responded, speaking in the same obnoxious syrupy tone of voice,   
“Yukwon,” The principal warned from across the room, they’d made an agreement of free speech (with a few exceptions) at the beginning of the session, and Yukwon was desperate to find the exceptions.   
“I feel that Yukwon thinks acting out will get him the attention he desperately needs,” Jiho seemed to know exactly what to say to make the woman happy,   
“Good, that’s very good, and what’s your response to that, Mr. Kim?” The woman prompted, she wrote something down on her clipboard,   
“I feel that that’s a load of bullshit” Yukwon smirked, leaning back against his chair and raising his eyebrows in a sort of dare for her to test him,   
“Would you just play along? We’ll get out of here faster if you stop being you for one fucking second,” Jiho snapped, turning to face him,   
The principal took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation, “Boys..” But he was ignored,   
“Oh sorry! Really, I am sorry, I guess I’m just not as good at this as you are, huh? Compared to the great Woo Jiho I’m just scum, aren’t I?” Yuwon exploded, jumping to his feet,   
“He said it, I didn’t,” Jiho responded calmly, looking apologetically toward the woman who was furiously writing down on her clipboard,   
“Fuck you,” Yukwon spat, turning to leave the room, “I hope you fucking die,” He was long out of insults.   
“Sit down.” The principal stepped in front of him and the door, “Or you’re expelled.”   
Yukwon looked him up and down, and considered it for a moment, before returning to his seat quietly. He crossed his arms and glared out the window, sulking.   
“I can sense a lot of pent up anger in this room.” The woman said lamely, running out of applicable therapist cliches to use. Yukwon didn’t talk for the rest of the session.   
\--  
“Hey!”   
Yukwon is walking across the field toward the bus stop when he hears a too familiar voice calling out to him. He pretended to not hear, and kept walking. It frosted over last night and each footstep makes a satisfying cracking noise, he tried to walk in time with his suddenly very present heartbeat.   
“Hey asshole!” Jiho calls again, his footsteps are getting faster. Yukwon considered running, but instead turned around to face him head on,   
“Look, if you wanna beat the shit out of me, just fucking do it, I gotta catch my bus,” He said with no emotion in his voice. He runs a hand through his hair and drops his bag on the ground, “All yours, man”   
“What the fuck is your problem?” Jiho asked forcefully, lunging forward to shove him over onto the hard ground, “Why can’t you stop being an ass for one second,”  
Yukwon looked up lazily, pretending his hands aren’t aching from catching his fall, “You wanted me to stay away from you, I’m trying to,”   
Jiho groaned, and kicked the grass, “You make me so fucking angry,”   
Yukwon didn’t say anything, instead he just shrugged and stood up, picked up his bag and walked away. Jiho followed a few feet behind.   
“I’m not like this,” Jiho started explaining out of nowhere, “I’m not like this with anyone except you, and I don’t know what it is, you just fill me with this fucking…” He made an exasperated noise and stopped walking for a second.   
Yukwon turned to him, disinterested, “I don’t care what you’re like. I don’t care about you at all. Leave me alone,” He was over it, he was over this whole thing, he just wanted to be at home.  
“Yukwon, fucking… listen to me, okay?” Jiho insisted, reaching out and grabbing onto the other boys sleeve, “I’m not an asshole, okay?”   
Yukwon pulled his sleeve out of the other boys grip and shrugged, “Thats fantastic for you,” He replied sarcastically, “Either hit me, or let me go home, alright?” Jiho looked like he was considering the first one, but shook his head, and seemed to snap out of it. He stayed silent and just looked Yuwon up and down a few times, “What the fuck are you looking at?”   
“You make me so angry.” Jiho said again, almost whispering.   
“Then don’t look at me,” Yukwon suggested. He watched his bus pull up and made no move to run for it. He didn’t break eye contact with Jiho. Neither of them spoke for a few moments, but neither looked away.   
“Yeah.” Jiho responded eventually, looking away and looking almost nervous. Yukwon wasn’t even aware Jiho had emotions outside of anger.   
“Okay, are you done being weird? I’d like to go home.” Yukwon asked, trying to make his voice sound hard and forceful, but he wasn’t sure it came across, Jiho nodded, and silently turned away to walk back towards the school. Yukwon shook his head to clear his thoughts. That was weird.   
\--   
Yukwon had somehow managed to get a couple weeks off from his job at 7-11, through many bribes and trades to his coworkers, but he’d run out of packs of cigarettes and pairs of socks (no really.) and was back. His boss had hired a new kid in the time he’d taken off and apparently forgotten to tell him he’d have to train him. He hadn’t stopped bothering Yukwon for the 2 and a half hours he’d worked so far, and showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.   
“What happened to your face?” He asked, he was sitting on the counter and swinging his legs back and forth eating a chocolate chip cookie he’d no doubt stolen from the “fresh baked goods” section,   
“What do you mean?” Yukwon asked, he sounded as exhausted as he felt,   
“It’s all, like, bruised up,” The kid explained, with a mouth full of cookie. He wasn’t really a kid, he must’ve been the same age as Yukwon, but he held himself younger. You could tell nothing hard had ever happened to him.   
“Yeah.” Yukwon answered, he was pretending to be fascinated with the cash register, “So?”  
“Is it, like, your parents, do I need to call someone?” The kid looked genuinely considered as he wiped crumbs from his face, “Are you okay?”   
“No, its not my parents.” Yukwon snorted, and looked at him, “Whats your name again?”   
“Park Kyung,” The kid said, for what must’ve been the 3rd time today. He didn’t seem fazed by it though. He didn’t seem particularly fazed by anything, “What happened to you, then?”   
“Got in a fight.”   
“Really?” Kyungs face lit up, “Are you in a gang or something? That’s so cool! Who’d you fight?”   
Yukwon looked at him silently for a few seconds and then laughed, “No, I’m not in a gang, it’s just this kid from my school.” He didn’t necessarily know why he was telling him all of this, but he didn’t stop there, “He seems to have it out for me, and I guess vice versa. You should see him though.”   
Kyung smiled, “No way! Thats hardcore, dude!” He seemed genuinely fascinated and that made Yukwon feel weirdly happy. Guess it’d been a while since someone was impressed with the stuff he told them. He was about to tell him about the time he was thrown across the hallway into a water fountain and blacked out for 14 minutes when the door bell rang. He glanced over and started his speech welcoming their valued customer to 7-11 when his gaze landed on, of course, Woo Jiho. Of course it was, who else would it be? He wasn’t alone, he was standing with two other boys Yukwon vaguely recognized from school, they all seemed very engrossed in the chips. Yukwon ducked under the counter.  
“Who are those guys?” Kyung asked, trying to read Yukwons face, “Are they the guys that did this to you? They don’t look very beaten up.”   
“No… they’re just… Look, I’m not here and,” Yukwon looked up over the counter to see the boy with glasses staring exactly at him and saying something to Jiho, who seemed to ignore him and talked to the other boy.   
“Are they in a rival gang?” Kyung looked a little too excited, as he ducked behind the counter with Yukwon, “Is the store gonna get shot up?”   
Yukwon didn’t have a chance to be exasperated, the boy with glasses appeared over them, leaning across the counter and smiling, “Hi Yukwon!” He greeted,   
“Uh, hey?” Yukwon responded, standing up slowly and trying to act casual, like he’d just been doing some necessary work under the counter, “Sorry, have we met?” He looked directly at him, pretending he didn’t notice Jiho in the corner of his eye   
“I don’t think so,” The boy shrugged, “I’m Taeil, I go to your school,” He pushed a small handful of lollipops and other small wrapped candies across the counter,   
“Is that everything for you?” Yukwon asked, still refusing to acknowledge Jiho at all,   
“Yeah, unless…” He glanced at the other 2 boys for a prompt or something, but they both looked at him blankly, “No, thats everything!” He turned back and grinned at Yukwon. He never seemed to stop smiling, it was unnerving.   
“Okay that’ll be, uh, 3230 won,” Yukwon stared at the counter, hoping they left quickly.   
Taeil pushed a small pile of crumpled bills toward him and nodded, “Thank you, have a good day!” And left, without his change (which Yukwon pocketed) and whispering something to Jiho the whole way out.   
“Who were they?” Kyung asked, the moment they’d left the store,   
“Friends from school.” Yukwon responded, leaving it at that, grateful that Kyung didn’t press more, and the two of them worked the rest of the shift in mostly silence.   
\--  
“You knew he worked there, right?” Jiho demanded, the exact second they’d closed the door behind them, he seemed genuinely upset, “There’s another convenience store that would’ve been cheaper and easier across the street, but you wanted him to see me, right? To test his reaction or whatever.”  
Taeil looked at Jiho and laughed, “What kind of person do you think I am? 7-11s just the only place that carries the candy Jihoon likes, I knew he worked there, but that’s not why we went,”   
“Whats with you, anyways?” Jihoon asked, popping a candy into his mouth, “You were so weird in there, you didn’t acknowledge him at all, I was expecting at least one snarky comment.”  
Jiho didn’t say anything in response, and fell a few steps behind the other two.   
“Heading out?” Taeil asked, it was a common Jiho thing, he never let other people in on his train of thought. He wouldn’t tell you he was going, he’d just go. Jiho didn’t respond to that either, but no one was expecting him to. And then he was gone.   
“He’s a weird guy,” Jihoon mused, quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote and rewrote this chapter a couple times, its hard to keep characterization up when the characters are just straight up dicks, im hoping i keep inspiration with this fic though, i'm enjoying writing it so far. there'll be more con res coming soon B)


	3. in which jiho stops asking questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay.. be warned i wrote this between 2 and 4 am, and i'm delirious as hell, this is quite the plotty chapter i guess, or like, provides windows for the plot. i warned you it would be a slow fic

When conflict resolution didn’t work out, much to the principals dismay, he apparently had decided that menial labour was the only possible solution and, much to Jiho and Yukwons dismay, sent them into the bathrooms with mops and, god forbid, actual fucking toothbrushes, and exclaimed proudly that they would have to exercise their teamwork skills in order to finish on time. Yukwon and Jiho were determined to prove him wrong. And so far, they were succeeded, they hadn’t talked save for a few casual questions, talking like unfamiliar family members, not like 2 teenagers who’d been trying to rip each others throat out a few days previously, and it felt weird. Weird in a normal, okay way. Which was, yeah, weird.  
“Can I use the mop?” Yukwon asked, appearing over Jiho, he had the annoying blank facial expression he always seemed to have, and was gesturing toward the mop bucket, as if Jiho wouldn’t understand without physical clues.   
Jiho made a small noise that sounded vaguely agreeable and turned back to scrubbing the sink with a toothbrush with bent useless bristles. Yukwon took the mop and walked back across the room, dragging his feet with each step. Jiho gritted his teeth. If he wanted to get out of school at a reasonable time, he had to get this done, and not worry about Yukwon and his annoying existence. It had been a couple days since they’d run into each other at the convenience store, and this had been their first interaction, except for Yukwon bumping Jiho hard while running down through the hallways with his stupid friends.   
“If we just left, could they really stop us?” Yukwon asked casually, breaking the silence, Jiho looked up in surprise, this was the first sentence Yukwon had spoken to him without an insult or drop of malice in it,   
“I don’t think so,” Jiho responded reluctantly, he couldn’t help feeling like he was being dragged into a trap.   
“We could just leave.” Yukwon mused, resting his chin against the mop handle and made a small face that vaguely resembled a smile, he didn’t seem to acknowledge that this was the first normal conversation they’d ever had, “Why don’t we?” He said we. Not I. Why. Don’t. We.   
Jiho nodded and stared at the floor. Why did this feel so normal?   
“Do you want to? If I leave, you have to too, I’m not taking all the blame.” Yukwon said, turning to look directly at Jiho for the first time that day, “We’ll probably get fucked tomorrow but at least we won’t have to scrub these fucking toilets with toothbrushes, for Gods sake.” He dramatically flung his toothbrush across the bathtub, it hit the mirror and bounced onto the floor a few feet away from Jiho,  
Jiho held back a smile, not entirely sure how to react, “Yeah, why not?”   
So they left. They dropped the mop buckets and literally, physically ran out of the building. Jiho thought he heard Yukwon laugh.   
Although, the spell, or whatever it was, seemed to break the second they stepped outside. Yukwon picked up his phone and typed something, hitched up his bag onto his shoulders, glanced at Jiho with no expression, and murmured a “see ya” (or something) and walked off across the field toward the bus stop. Jiho was going the same way, but held back a moment, not sure why, and followed after once there was a sizeable difference between the two of them.   
\--  
At a certain point in a friendship (if you could even call it that) with someone of the likes of Lee Taeil, you stop questioning things. Like, for example, how he knows your dad, or even, how he managed to get both himself and Pyo Jihoon into your entirely locked house without waking you, or aforementioned dad, up. Thats why, on Tuesday morning, when Jiho opened his eyes to the two of them sitting on the dirty loveseat crammed in the corner of your room, playing with Pokemon cards and whispering quietly to eachother, the question is “What do you want?” and not, the usual and expected questions like “How did you get in here?” “How did you know where I live?” “What are you doing” “Get out of my house” or even “I’m calling the police”.   
“What do you mean what do we want? We don’t want anything.” Taeil answered quickly, smiling brightly at Jiho. He was crouched awkwardly, almost perched on the arm of the couch, looking like he could fall off at any moment. He wouldn’t of course, he had weird cat like balance and reflexes that Jiho couldn’t make sense of.  
Jiho groaned loudly, he was still groggy from sleep and was not in the mood to question them further, he couldn’t play their little game of questions, “What time is it?” He asked, pushing himself off the mattress and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes,   
“Uh… 6:13,” Jihoon answered, checking his phone, which was an honest to god flip phone,  
“No. Fuck off.” He growled, flopping back onto his bed and groaning louder, “Why did you wake me up at 6 fucking am, or is that a stupid question?” He rolled his eyes, but to no effect as his face was pressed into the pillow and they couldn’t have seen it even if they were looking (which they weren’t, they never were).   
“We didn’t, you woke up at 6 am, we just happened to be here.” Taeil shrugged, “I vinewhip the hell out of your Geodude,” He said quietly to Jihoon,   
“For 30?” Jihoon asked peeking at Taeils card and writing something down on a piece of paper, “I have 10 left and I… Rocksmash the fuck out of your Venusaur for 20 and then...” He trailed off as he picked up a small paper coin and started flipping it,   
Jiho realised he wasn’t going to get a straight answer out of either of them, or be able to get back to sleep, so he reluctantly sat up again, and pushed himself into a standing position, “I’m gonna go shower,” He said, waving vaguely towards them, not expecting a response, and walking out of the room  
“Thats 60! Suck on that Tae!” Jihoon cackled, knocking his friends card off the couch, “Get recked,”   
Jiho closed the bathroom behind him, muffling the sound of his accidental friends yelling at eachother, and sighed, he glanced in the mirror. This was the longest he’d been without noticeable injuries for a long time. His fingers grazed against his lip, the scar tissue was still there, but you couldn’t notice unless you were looking for it. He turned away and groaned to himself. He’d been doing a lot of groaning lately. He pulled his shirt off over his head and stepped out of his pajama pants, reaching behind the curtain to turn the shower on. He stepped in and felt intense relief as the almost burning water washed over him. He thought about Taeil and Jihoon in the next room. He thought about his dad and his potential friendship with Taeil. He thought about Yukwon and his quiet laugh as they ran out of the school. He thought about the eye contact they’d made moments before. He thought about punching him. He thought about pinning him to the ground and…   
Wait.   
Why was he thinking about Yukwon? Why was he thinking about his sworn enemy who had done nothing but terrorise him for the last couple months? In the shower of all places? Jiho shook his head to try to clear his mind and ran a hand through his hair nervously. It didn’t mean anything, he decided, quickly. His brain was just confused and didn’t know what to do with all this empty space after he’d stopped having to be on guard and ready to fight at all times. Still, it weirded Jiho out, and he quickly washed his hair and got out of the shower.   
\--   
“Boys…” The principal took a moment to take his glasses off, and rub the bridge of his nose with his thumb and pointer finger, “Boys, honestly, I’m just…” He smelt like cigarettes, that was new, “I’m at the end of my rope here, okay? I honestly just… don’t know what to do anymore. Between suspensions and medical leaves you’re ages behind on all your schoolwork, and you skipped out on punishment yesterday, and I just…” He sighed loudly, and turned his chair away from them, rhythmically tapping his pen against the armrest.  
“Sir, please, I’m..” Jiho started to argue against their explosion, but fell silent when the principal waved a hand absently at them,   
“I really don’t want to expel you boys.” He said, in a serious tone that made Jihos skin crawl, “But, I just don’t know what to do.” He turned the chair back to face them and stared them each dead in the eyes, individually.   
“Sir, I’m, we’re both sorry and if you just give us one more chance, sir, please,” Jiho was desperate, he didn’t know how his father would react to him getting expelled, but he didn’t want to find out,   
The principal looked them both in the eyes again, Jiho didn’t remember ever seeing him blink. He sighed again, “If you boys, put one toe… no, if you give anything less than exceeding expectations,” He waved them out of his office, not finishing his sentence, but he didn’t need to. They both stood and bowed and walked slowly and politely out of his office, refusing to even acknowledge each other until the door was closed.   
“This is all your fault.” Jiho hissed, stopping in the middle of the hallway,   
“My fault?” Yukwon echoed incredulously, “My fault? Really, Jiho, do elaborate,” He sarcastically gestured for him to continue,   
“Okay, well, for one you were the one that fucked up our conflict resolution, that was an easy pass out and if you hadn’t been you we could’ve pretended to be friends and moved the fuck on with our lives,” Jihos words were stumbling on top of each other, but he didn’t care, his body was shaking with anger, a feeling he hadn’t felt in at least a couple weeks, “And, yesterday, even, it was your bright fucking idea to leave! You were all ‘what can they really do to us? Look at me i’m yukwon i’m so cool and edgy the school can’t stop me’! Where the fuck did that guy go, huh? Now you’re all upset cause someone’s unhappy with you for once in your precious little sheltered? Fuck right off.” Jiho knew his thoughts were jumbled and disconnected, but it didn’t really matter what he said, as long as he said a lot and loudly, he knew he got the point across.   
“As if I fucking made you come with me.” Yukwon spat back, taking a step closer toward Jiho, and raising his arm slightly. This was danger zone, they needed to stop now or they’d both be expelled, “You really will do anything anyone says, won’t you? You act all tough and hard like you don’t care what people think, but I gave you the smallest opening and you sucked it right up, you jumped at the opportunity to leave with me, because you want people to like you, even people you don’t like. Haven’t you noticed? Even the way you interact with teachers, you’re a kiss ass even to people you claim to hate. And thats fucked up. At least I have the decency to be an actual person outside of people’s perceptions of you. You’re fucked, Jiho.” He turned on his heel and half ran out of the school, leaving Jiho standing in the hallway. Luckily it was during class time and the only person watching was a 10th grader who looked terrified to even be in the same room as either of them.   
Jiho stood for a few minutes, gathering his thoughts, trying to practice the breathing exercises that had been drilled into him. Breath in, hold for 4, breathe out for 7. Repeat. It wasn’t working, his head was pounding and each breath felt like razor blades. Breath in, hold for 4, breathe out for 7. He didn’t realise his eyes were squeezed shut until he opened them. His vision was cloudy. His head hurt. He made his way to the closest wall and held onto it. Breath in, hold for 4, breathe in for 7. Repeat. Repeat. He felt his heartbeat slowing. He sunk to the ground, ignoring the shooting pain that traveled up his thigh as his knees made contact with the cement. Breath in, hold for 4, breathe out for 7. He didn’t understand why what Yukwon said did this to him, he’d heard worse, way worse, from many different people. Why was it these particular words that felt like being stabbed repeatedly. He tucked his head in between his knees and breathed slowly. What the fuck did Yukwon know about anything?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont know honestly   
> dont worry, feelings will come out soon and it will be too angsty and i cant promise i won't cry   
> also?? i dont know if 2k-ish words a chapter is a lot or a little or standard?? its a lot for me, generally i write shorter chapters, but looking at it once its published it looks like hardly anything? I dont know


	4. in which ukwons friends care too much about him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ignore the faact its been 7 months i was .... in the shower ....  
> i was fully ready to drop this fic and then i randomly reread the first chapter and i was like ..... yo....... so HERE it is again sorry lmao  
> i literally listened to rly old bigbang for the entire writing of this chapter so idk what that is but it sure is something

"Hey." A weirdly equally familiar and unfamiliar voice spoke up behind Jiho, there was pressure on his shoulder like someone was resting their hand there. He swung around, knocking the person away, his instincts threw him straight into fight mode. It was Minhyuk. One of Yukwons friends. A surge of rage ran through Jihos body and he gritted his teeth, ready to attack. Minhyuk looked shocked and stepped back, holding his hands with his palms up, offering his surrender.

"Whoa dude, chill, I'm not the enemy here," Minhyuk smiled awkwardly, he looked like he was a wonded zoo keeper trapped in the big bad scary unpredictable lions den. He glanced around the hallway as if to secure exits if a fight were to occur. 

Jiho raised his eyebrows but said nothing, he wasn’t looking at the other boy, he was watching a girl fold her gym clothes and place them in a almost comically oversized bag. He was surprised at the hot feeling behind his eyes that suggested he was about to break down into tears in the middle of the fucking hallway for gods sake, and knew if he made eyecontact he would cry and if he cried in front of Yukwons best friend he would be ruined. He stood, pointedly not looking at the other boy, waiting for him to make the first move. 

Minhyuk seemed to relax, he slowly moved his hands back down to his sides and smiled apologetically, "Sorry I didn't mean to sneak up on you I was just... wondering if you had a moment, to, uh, talk," he glanced around again at the students loitering in the hall around them, most of them had lost interest as soon as Yukwon had left and had returned to their conversations.

Jiho shrugged, "Talk." He commanded. Suddenly, he didn't seem to even have the energy to be angry anymore, the only thing he felt was a sort of resentment, a built up exhaustion that had concreted into his bones. 

"Is it okay if we go outside? It's a bit loud in here," Minhyuk was still treating Jiho like a child who had thrown a temper tantrum and it would've pissed him off on any day that wasn't today. Instead he just nodded, and the two of them left through the same door that Yukwon had darted out of only moments before.  
\--  
"He's really not that bad of a guy," Minhyuk spoke up, breaking the silence once they had sat on the top row of the bleachers over looking the football field, he lit a cigarette and reached out to offer Jiho one who just ignored him until he slid it back into his pack.

"So I've heard," Jiho replied, shortly, refusing to give the boy anything more than he felt required to. 

"No, listen, I mean it," Minhyuk apparently thought Jihos response was sarcastic and maybe it sort of was, "You guys just... bring out the worse in eachother, and... and don't get me wrong he's not the easiest person to be around but..." He was trying to make eye contact with Jiho, who ignored his efforts, "He's not a bad guy," He had a look of desperation that confused Jiho, like he was equally trying to convince himself of the same thing. But no, he couldn’t be. 

"Why do you put up with him?" Jiho questioned, staring straight ahead, his jaw clenched. In and out. In and out. In and out. 

"Because he's my best friend, I've known him forever and I've seen parts of him that no one probably ever will... and vice versa," Minhyuk explained, smiling softly. Jiho snorted, did this guy seriously bring him out here just to talk about what an amazing relationship he had with the guy who'd spent every moment of the last several months trying to make Jihos life miserable, "And it's not... it's deeper than you think, I mean..." he paused, "you don't know the full story, he didn't use to be such an ass, you know? Well, he was always kind of an ass but he was.. It's... uh..." He cut himself off and looked down at his hands. 

“Why did you bring me here?” Jiho asked, completely uninterested in hearing what about what a golly good fellow Minhyuk thought Yukwon was, “Is it really just to tell me that you’re so fucking in love with him, or?” He wasn’t entirely sure why he had said that or if he believed it, but the anger seemed to have dug itself out of the layers of exhaustion and bubbled toward the surface, and he felt himself begin to shake. In and out. In and out. In and out. 

 

“No!” Minhyuk gasped, a slight flush spreading across his cheeks, “Its nothing like that, I just…” He took a deep breath, “I was wondering if you… would maybe just… lay off? Like, just… leave him alone for a while,” He looked at Jiho and made direct eye contact for the first time that day, 

Jihos jaw fell open, “Me? Leave him alone?” he asked, incredulously, “Why don’t you go fucking say that to Yukwon? I’m not the one who is fucking out here like hes--”

Minhyuk cut him off by placing a hand on his shoulder again. This guy seemed really into physical contact, it made Jiho comfortable, “Listen….” He started, he almost had the voice of a radio presenter and a kindergarten teacher mixed together, “I know Kwonnie--” Jiho almost gagged at the use of the nickname “--is, well, difficult and I know hes responsible for half if not more of whatever you guys got going on but… This can’t go on forever, okay? If you just step back, eventually he’ll stop, right?” He took the hand off his shoulder and placed it back on his own lap, he stared at it and took a breath before continuing, “Just… stop. Please. He doesn’t need this,” He looked up at Jiho again and stood slowly, “Okay. Thanks for listening,” He looked apologetic.

“But--” Jiho started to say, but Minhyuk was already walking away. Jihos stomach dropped, he was beyond the point of thinking anymore, he jumped up onto the bleachers almost falling off in the process and yelled, “Hey!” Minhyuk glanced back with an irritating nonchalant look, Jiho hesitated for a second and then finished, “If Yukwon wants me to lay off he should tell me himself, not send a fucking carrier pigeon like a fucking coward!” He needed to say something believable he needed to be angry, he needed to feel strongly, he had his fists balled and against his chest, his eyes closed, every instinct in his brain was firing at once, he didn’t know weather to fight or flight or laugh or cry, his only remaining piece of common sense was screaming for him to not tackle Minhyuk and smash his brains in.

“He didn’t send me, Jiho.” Minhyuk responded, somehow both yelling and whispering, he shifted his bag on his shoulder and shrugged, “I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” Jiho was half a second away from lunging across the bleachers, when he turned back almost knowingly, “And stop playing the victim all the fucking time, okay?”

Jiho froze, unsure of how to respond unsure of how to respond, and watched the boy walk away. 

“Well that was handled just swimmingly,” Jiho didn’t have to look up to know Taeil and Jihoon stood behind him, both likely having had listened to the entire encounter, and both without a doubt had many obnoxious opinions and tips as if they knew what was best for Jiho at all. He was not in the mood for having any part of this. 

“Fuck. Off.” He grumbled, slumping back over into a sitting position and holding his head between his knees, breathing in and out. In and out. In and out. 

There was a silence for a second before Jihoon broke it, “You okay?” His temperament was so light hearted and positive that it often surprised Jiho that he had ended up best friends with the type of person who had broken into the principal's car and poured glue and glitter over everything after he had been given a bad grade in math class. 

“I’m fantastic,” Jiho responded, raising his head slightly and staring out toward where Minhyuk had been. 

“Whats different?” Taeil asked, crouching down next to Jiho and resting his head on his hands. 

“What?” Jiho raised an eyebrow, shooting daggers with his eyes even though he knew it was essentially useless on Taeil, who never seemed fazed anymore, not since their first meeting in the bathroom.

“Whats different?” Taeil repeated, smiling obnoxiously, as if he’d cracked part of the code, “This doesn’t seem to be anger anymore, where did the anger go? And why? And what replaced it?”

“What the fuck are you on about?” Jiho demanded, jumping into defensive mode instantly,

“Jiho from 3 weeks ago would’ve smashed Minhyuks face in before he had a chance to speak,” Taeil shrugged, “This Jiho actually sat down and had a mature conversation with him, about who? Kim Yukwon? Can you imagine?” 

Jiho swung his fist without thinking, it surprised him more than anyone else when he made full contact with the side of Taeils face, sending the boy tumbling down a few stairs. He froze up, for seemingly the millionth time that day, following the glasses spiraling a solid 5 feet from where he’d landed. Taeil moved before Jiho could, he gently reached up to where he’d been punched and felt the bruise forming, looked at his hand, and back up toward Jiho and sighed, “So much for character development, huh?” He stood shakily, suddenly Jihoon was at his side, investigating the damage. Taeil batted him away lazily, muttering something Jiho couldn’t hear and then shot Jiho a glance before picking his glasses, and bag off the bench, and turning to go, Jihoon furiously whispering into his ear. 

And then Jiho was alone.

\--

“What took you so long?” Yukwon asked as Minhyuk opened the passenger seat door, he raised an eyebrow suggestively and slid a bookmark into the comic he was holding, 

Minhyuk snorted, “Please, you of all people can’t ask that,” He slid in next to his friend and nodded a greeting. 

“Yeah Yukwon, you’re even 30 seconds late and we’re almost sending search parties out to find you mangled body in a ditch outside of that Woo kids house,” Jaehyo laughed from the backseat, resting his chin on the back of Minhyuks chair, “Nevermind last Monday when you were 4 hours and 37 minutes late,” 

“If anything he’ll be the one in the ditch,” Yukwon offered, grinning slightly, he’d shoved the events of the day out of his mind almost immediately after they’d happened.

“Christ Kwon thats not much better,” Minhyuk spoke up, a surprisingly solemn tone to his voice. His eyes bore into Yukwons. 

“It was a fucking joke,” Yukwon snapped back, all previous good mood vanished, “I’m not a fucking murderer,” He stared back into Minhyuks eyes, a sort of unspoken staring contest.

“We know!” Jaehyo butted in, ever the mediator, “Yukwon of course you aren’t, but you can’t blame us for being worried, okay? Christ you’ve been hospitalized how many times this year?”

“I can handle it,” Yukwon replied, why couldn’t he enjoy a single fucking day with his best friends without it somehow involving Jiho, who let him take over his fucking life like this, “I’m sorry I’m such an inconvenience, maybe I’ll let him kill me next time, just to make your perfect lives a little easier, huh?” He spat, breaking eye contact with Minhyuk to stare straight out at the parking lot but not before he caught the shock and hurt in his friends eyes at his words. 

“Christ Yukwon!” Jaehyo almost yelled, “Why the fuck are you thinking like that?!” He pulled himself forward into the space between their two seats and reached out to grab his arm,

Yukwon shook him off with a grunt and continued staring straight ahead. The car was silent for a few moments, Minhyuk and Jaehyo desperately searching for something useful to say, Yukwon just too stubborn to be the first one to speak. 

“I’m sorry.” Minhyuk finally said, his voice raw and cracking after what felt like years though had only been moments, he cleared his throat, “I’m sorry,” He repeated again, louder.

“Me too,” Jaehyo said quietly, moving slowly back into his seat and looking at the ground, “Sorry,”

They both waited. The silence lasted on. 1 mississippi, 2 mississippi, 3 mississippi, 4 mississippi, 5 mississip-- “Fuck alright I’m sorry too.” Yukwon spoke up, leaning forward to rest his forehead on the steering wheel, “Its just… fuck this kids stuck in my fucking head, I can’t even fucking… enjoy a nice goddamn day with my best fucking friends without…” He trailed off as he felt an arm around his shoulders, and another around his waist. He looked down and saw the two of them wrapped around his body digging their faces into his torso silently, “Fuck, I’m… Fuck just get off of me… Jesus,” He suppressed the smile tugging at his face muscles and groaned in mock anger.

They broke away and returned to their seats, grinning up at Yukwon like he was made of pure gold, and they sat like this for a minute or so, until Yukwon sat back up and grumbled, “Alright lets go get wasted,” He turned the key in the ignition until his Dads old broken shithold of a car sprung to life and pulled out of the parking lot, and drove down the street as the engine spluttered and cried. 

 

Jiho watched him go from the bleachers, and cursed to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a pretty useless chapter i ugess im just a HOE FOR ANGST !  
> i was also planning on making this chapter rly long bc its been 7 months but its just normal length u wine some u lose some  
> also i swear the characters that have no relevance to the plot rn will eventually its a PROCESS anthony

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I don't know honestly, this is completely self indulgent, I just recently started thinking about this ship, and I read all the fics I could find, and was thinking about my favorite tropes and how much I'd love a high school enemies au, and then figured "hey why not" so here it is, I'm sorry the fighting scenes are totally awkward I have no idea how to write action. Also I hope you're ready for some ANGST it will come and it will be angsty.


End file.
